Perceiving the Past in the Age of Streaming Media: the Cases of Chernobyl and Patient Zero

The localization strategy of streaming platforms has been a trigger for the renewal of memory conflicts about the disaster in Chernobyl. In Anna Reading’s terms, Chernobyl memory as the set of material and discursive formations was put within the "globital memory field" by HBO through the process of deterritorialization (2011, p. 247). To what extent did the show deal with a difficult past and fulfill the mission of the "world’s edification"? And does the fact that the show was created outside of its original context and place have an impact on successfully addressing the contested past? To clarify what aspects of the past are communicated through the TV series under consideration, I turn to the theory of three modes of remembering: Antagonistic mode, Cosmopolitan mode, and Agonistic mode. Since the objective of the study is, among other things, to determine how working through difficult pasts differs in the country where these traumatic events occurred, I also include the Russian historical drama Patient Zero into the analysis.